"What's wrong, Old Ancestor?" Chen Mo quickly asked.
"See that piece of stone that was cut off? Take it down."
Following the Old Ancestor's command, Chen Mo's gaze fell upon a palm-sized stone on the ground.
"Damn it, not a speck of green!" the stout middle-aged man exclaimed, his face a mask of despair.
He had spent a full three hundred thousand yuan to buy this stone.
To his surprise, there wasn't the slightest hint of jade within.
"Boss, are we still cutting?" the shop owner inquired.
The stout middle-aged man replied with displeasure, "We've already made four cuts, what more is there to cut?! Don't you know what your own stones are like?!"
The shop owner gave a sheepish smile but said nothing more. He had seen plenty of people like him. Kuaishuge.
In fact, anyone who gambled on stones knew that if four cuts yielded nothing, the stone was considered worthless.
The stout middle-aged man, his face grim, was about to leave.
The surrounding crowd, also intending to disperse, had hoped for the legendary scene of striking it rich with a single cut, but it hadn't materialized.
"Hey, wait a moment!" Suddenly, Chen Mo, standing outside the shop entrance, called out.
All eyes turned to Chen Mo.
Chen Mo politely approached the stout middle-aged man and asked, "Sir, may I ask if you are selling the leftover stones you cut?"
The crowd was taken aback.
The stout middle-aged man's face darkened, "Brat, are you trying to humiliate me?!"
Chen Mo quickly waved his hands, "No, no, you misunderstand. I just want to buy a stone to play with."
"Young man, those are cut waste stones, worthless. If you want to buy, buy from the shop. What are you buying these for?" a man kindly advised.
Yu Honglong, standing nearby, also reacted and whispered, "Dr. Chen, he's right, those are all waste stones."
Chen Mo gave an embarrassed smile, "To be honest with everyone, I'm a recent graduate and don't have much money, so I thought I'd buy a cut stone to play with, just for the thrill."
The stout middle-aged man sized Chen Mo up, and he did indeed look like a recent graduate.
He pointed to the pile of broken stones, "Give me ten thousand, and all these stones are yours."
"Ten thousand?!"
Everyone was shocked.
Ten thousand yuan was enough to buy a complete raw stone from the shop, yet this fellow dared to ask for such a price.
"Sir, I really don't have that much money. I just want to buy one stone to play with, just one."
The stout middle-aged man grew impatient, "How much money do you have?"
Chen Mo took out all the money from his pockets, "Altogether, one hundred and seventy-two yuan and fifty cents."
Silence fell upon the scene.
Everyone stared at Chen Mo, dumbfounded.
"Kid, are you here to make a joke? Over a hundred yuan to gamble on stones?"
"This hundred-plus yuan probably isn't even enough for the stone cutter's commission for one cut!"
"Kid, forget it. Save your money and take the bus home."
Once they recovered, they began to mock Chen Mo.
"Hahahaha!" The stout middle-aged man also laughed.
Then, he looked at Chen Mo mockingly, "Alright, kid, which one do you want? I'll sell it to you. But once you buy it, don't come crying to me if you don't have money for the bus later."
Chen Mo's eyes lit up.
He handed all the money in his hand to the stout middle-aged man and picked up the stone his Old Ancestor had taken a liking to from the ground.
Unbeknownst to Chen Mo, the stout middle-aged man sold the waste stone to Chen Mo precisely because he wanted to see Chen Mo make a fool of himself and find some balance for himself.
Chen Mo picked up the palm-sized stone and handed it to the shop owner, "Boss, can you cut it for me?"
The shop owner advised, "Kid, this is a waste stone, nothing will come out of it."
"I just want to try," Chen Mo said again.
"Boss, this young man won't turn back until he hits the south wall. Just cut it for him."
"Yeah, cutting it once won't make a difference. What if it cuts out an imperial green or something?"
"Hahaha, imperial green? If this can cut out imperial green, I'll eat this stone!"
Many people around were teasing him mockingly.
"Fine, I'll cut it for you," the shop owner finally nodded and turned on the cutting machine.
At this moment, Chen Mo was also filled with anticipation.
He didn't know what would be cut from the raw stone his Old Ancestor had taken a liking to.
The palm-sized stone was cut in half in less than a minute.
Even though everyone knew nothing would come out of the stone, the crowd didn't disperse, all waiting to see Chen Mo's embarrassment.
Lifting the grinding wheel, the boss picked up the palm-sized stone.
However, the moment the boss looked at the cut surface of the stone, he froze on the spot.
"Boss, what did you cut out?"
Everyone was curious.
"Holy crap, did it actually turn green?" someone asked, seeing the boss's expression.
"How is that possible? The boss clearly wants to tease this young man."
In their opinion, the fate of this stone was sealed; nothing could possibly come out of it.
"It, it turned green! Young man, you have really good luck!" Suddenly, the boss reacted and said to Chen Mo with shock.
"What?!"
"It turned green?! How is that possible!"
In an instant, the scene erupted in an uproar!
Everyone couldn't help but step forward a few paces, looking at the stone in the boss's hand.
As expected, when they saw the crystal-clear green jade in the middle, everyone's eyes nearly popped out!
"This, this is imperial green?"
"Holy crap, over a hundred yuan, and it cut out imperial green? This, this."
One man stammered for a long time, he was at a loss for words to describe his feelings at that moment.
The stout middle-aged man who had sold the raw stone to Chen Mo was also dumbfounded, his face full of disbelief.
"Young man, sell me this stone, I'll offer you three hundred thousand!" the boss said excitedly to Chen Mo.
"Boss, you're too much of a rip-off, I'll offer you five hundred thousand!"
"I'll offer six hundred thousand!"
Suddenly, people around began bidding!
Six hundred thousand, this was a sky-high price, and Chen Mo was stunned. He had never seen so much money in his life.
And these bidding voices were like sharp knives, stabbing at his heart!
This money should have been his! He sold it for just over a hundred yuan!
Especially since he had wanted to see Chen Mo make a fool of himself and had advised Chen Mo not to cry! It was he himself who was about to cry!
Yu Honglong, standing nearby, was also stunned.
Over a hundred yuan, earning six hundred thousand, this was more incredible than a money-printing machine!
"I'll offer six hundred and ten thousand. Young man, you must sell it to me! I cut the raw stone for you for free!" the boss also raised his price, adding another ten thousand to the six hundred thousand.
Chen Mo finally snapped out of his shock, "Alright, six hundred and ten thousand, I'll sell it!"